** This post contains affiliate links. I am compensated for purchases made through these links at no additional cost to you. Thanks for supporting Floradise!

This year we decided to create the first Flora family ofrenda for Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. While I have celebrated the holiday with family in Mexico in the past, I have never made an ofrenda of my own at home, so I looked for inspiration on Instagram and Pinterest and compiled a list of what seemed to be good components: marigolds, papel picado (a paper banner), fruit, drinks, candles, photos and sugar skulls. You can add personal items or pretty much whatever you’d like.

The most challenging part of putting together an ofrenda was compiling photos of deceased family members. I didn’t have photos of some of them, so I had to ask family to find them among their photo collections, send them to me and then print them out. We made sure to include a photo of our dog Taylor, who died a year and a half ago.

We also painted our own sugar skulls as a fun family project one night. I bought ceramic white skulls here and then purchased a small set of acrylic paints, along with some paint brushes. I found an image on Pinterest that I wanted to recreate on my skull and tried my best. I am pretty pleased with the result given that I’m not an artist and that I messed up a few times and covered the errors with white paint. My skull now lives in the ofrenda.

We have also added sugar skull glasses to hold beverages, as well as more photos. We still have more work to do, like adding food, beverages and personal items to the ofrenda, but I wanted to show the progress so far. We still have more time before Dia de los Muertos.

My first experience growing vegetables indoors has so far been positive. I have a lot to learn, namely what do I do with a lot of basil?

My eggplant plants have each produced one fruit. The mini eggplants are about 2 inches long. I think I waited too long to pick one of them; it started to lose its purple color, though it still feels glossy. The directions on the Bonnie Plants website say to pick them while they are still glossy; otherwise, they might have a bitter taste. I found a recipe for Mini Eggplant Parmesan via the Food Network that I hope to try, though I wouldn’t be able to make much with two mini eggplants.

My Anaheim pepper plant has produced one pepper. The others haven’t yielded any, though it appears that a couple may be starting to grow. What should I do with one grown pepper?

Our tomato vines don’t appear to be growing any tomatoes yet. The plant get taller and taller every day, but so far it has produced nothing. The same is true of our cucumber and bell pepper plants.

Though I am not enjoying a feast of vegetables from our garden yet, I am proud that I have been able to grow a few things. I was never able to plant vegetables on our patio in Phoenix because the space didn’t get enough sunlight. The ability to grow a little bit of food is satisfying and rewarding.

Etsy vendors helped me immensely as I planned our Maui wedding. I gravitated toward romantic, floral designs in everything I ordered — to match my new last name. In the age of Pinterest, it’s easy to get carried away with DIY, but chances are there’s an item on Etsy that is both beautiful and reasonably priced. And vendors will often customize your item if you request it.

My favorite Etsy wedding purchases:

1. Natty Michelle card for Graham. This was originally a Mother’s Day card that I requested she change to say “I love you.” She happily agreed.

5. DIY Cake Topper Set from Pretzel Tree. I requested pink and white flowers to match my wedding colors and the shop created a custom listing for me. I then painted my own topper, which I found to be fun and easy to do. The packaging was cute, too.